


steal my heart (and don't give it back)

by cityofflights



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Alternate Universe - Criminals, Banter, Developing Relationship, Enemies to Lovers, M/M, Robbery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-11
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-18 13:48:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29983812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cityofflights/pseuds/cityofflights
Summary: Rafael is a robber who just wants to do his job in peace and quiet.Sonny is also a robber who seems adamant about making Rafael's life hell by showing up in the places he's trying to rob.This is their love story
Relationships: Rafael Barba/Dominick "Sonny" Carisi Jr.
Comments: 7
Kudos: 28
Collections: Barisi Genres & Tropes Challenge





	steal my heart (and don't give it back)

**Author's Note:**

> special thanks to ellen for being my beta

**Chicago, September 2015**

The first time it happens Rafael is more curious than annoyed. Of course, that doesn’t mean that the mere sight of Dominick “Call me Sonny” Carisi Jr’s face in the art gallery warehouse he had been planning on robbing that night doesn’t put an immediate scowl on his face.

Still, he approaches the other man to inquire about his intentions and to send him away.

“What are you doing here?” he sounds exasperated and rude but unfortunately none of those things seem to stop Carisi from greeting him with a full dimpled smile.

“Barba! Hey, what’s up? I didn’t know you were going to be here.” His chipper tone along with the relaxed way he’s leaning against the wall would suggest they had just bumped into each other at a nightclub instead of the highly protected storage place of millions of dollars worth of art pieces.

Instead of responding he just rolled his eyes and gestured to the door. “Leave.”

“No way, man, I got here first”

Dear God, he was dealing with a child. He was even pouting. Who did Carisi think he was, with his stupid blue eyes and his stupid pink lips and his stupid all-black attire like something out of a bad spies movie? No, Rafael wasn’t going to leave and let someone who probably saw a crime movie once on late-night TV and decided he could do that steal the pieces he had been eyeing for six months now.

Since asking him to go away didn’t result in the desired outcome, Rafael moved onto plan B. Proceed with the robbery as if Carisi wasn’t there. That was easier said than done because as soon as he moved to grab a painting a hand shot out and curled around his wrist.

“I want that one.”

“Excuse me?” He yanked his arm away and tried again, but Carisi put himself between Rafael and the art.

“C’mon Barba there’s plenty of stuff to steal here, choose something else I call dibs on this.”

“ _ Dibs?  _ What are we, ten years old? I couldn’t care less about what you want, I have been planning this for months now and I have a masterfully crafted plan which includes a list of which pieces I’m going to be taking. I didn’t just roll out of bed this morning, think I would look cute in all black and decide to rob something like you.”

The smug look hadn’t left his face throughout Barba’s whole rant, in fact, it had doubled towards the end of it and he only realized why when it was already too late 

“You think I look cute in all black?”

Damn it, he didn’t mean to say that out loud.

“No. Now move.” He used his most stern voice, the one which made everyone who crossed his path rue the day they were born. Well, everyone except Carisi who didn’t move an inch from his position.

“Why do you want this so much? Like you said, there’s a lot of stuff here just pick something else.”

In an instant, his smile drops and a frown appears on the middle of his brow. Carisi doesn’t answer, choosing instead to focus his eyes on the ground between them.

“What is it?”

“It’s - nah. Barba, I don’t wanna waste your time with a sad story”

Carisi’s right, for what must be the first time in his life. Rafael really doesn’t have time to waste listening to whatever it is that’s making his face look grim but against his better judgment, he presses – not because he can see tears forming in the corner of his eyes, he doesn’t give a damn about that.

“C’mon spit it out.”

“It’s just this is a Gerhard Richter painting, you know?” Rafael had to roll his eyes at that, of course, he knew who had made the goddamn thing, that’s exactly why he was trying to steal it. “And well, he was my ma’s favourite painter. She passed a couple of months ago and, I don’t know, I wanted something to feel closer to her,” Carisi said it all in one breath without meeting his eyes and as his voice got weaker, something inside Rafael’s chest got tighter. It must have been the cardio exercises he had done in the morning, those always cause him chest pains.

He doesn’t know how it happens, but when he opens his mouth to offer his condolences and tell Carisi he could print off an image of the painting online, what comes out is something entirely different.

“You can take it”

“Really?” Carisi finally lifts his head to look at him. He sounds surprised and Rafael supposes he has reason to be. He’s not exactly a man known for his generosity and compassion, especially not towards the competition, but alas he is human after all and after hearing Carisi’s sob story he had been a little moved. But just a bit, nothing much. In reality, he just didn’t want to have to deal with a crying man-child, if he refused to give him the painting so for the sake of his sanity he gave it out of his free will.

“Yeah, fast. Before I change my mind”

He turns around and starts gathering the other items he came for. About halfway through the job, Carisi taps his shoulder.

“Just finished loading it, wanted to say thank you again. It really means a lot”

“Yeah whatever, I just didn’t want your mom’s ghost haunting me.” He expects the man to take the dismissal and finally leave him alone, but he hovers awkwardly over him with something in his expression that Rafael can’t quite place. It’s a mixture of amusement and-

“I may have lied about that”

Guilt

“What?” He stands up so fast his vision goes black for a few seconds, giving Carisi enough time to move closer to the exit and put a few meters between them.

“I just – You wouldn’t give it to me and in my defense, I didn’t think the story about my ma would work. You were supposed to say no and then we would laugh it off. Why did you have to be nice and say yes? If we look closely, in reality, this is actually all your fault,”

As he spoke, he kept moving backwards at the same pace Rafael advanced in his direction with an expression that could only be described as murderous. Carisi’s lucky this was a low-risk job and he’d left his gun’s silencer at home.

“Get out of my sight.” Carisi had now reached the door but froze at the sound of Rafael’s voice “Now.”

The last word did the trick and the other man bolted into the night. If he saw Carisi again in the next 30 years, it would be too soon.

  
  


**New York City, March 2016**

Rafael must have pissed off the universe because not even 6 months after the encounter with Carisi, he meets the man again.

Really it shouldn’t be that surprising. They have a handful of friends in common, both spend the majority of their time in New York and of course, they’re in the same business so it’s only natural for them to cross paths. What wasn’t normal was those meetings happening during a robbery, and twice in a row.

What were the chances they’d both be in the same Auction House at the same time? If he didn’t know better, he would think Carisi was tracking him for the sole purpose of disturbing him.

From the day they first met, the man had made it his mission to annoy Rafael at every possible moment. They hadn’t exchanged more than five words after Liv had introduced them at one of her parties when Carisi, or  _ Sonny _ , as he claimed everyone called him, looked him up and down and said “Why do your socks match your tie? That’s kinda weird”

The polite smile he had on up until that moment fell immediately and was replaced by a scowl, which had consistently been his expression whenever Carisi was around. He refused to stand there and listen to fashion criticism by someone who looked like they shared a closet with a frat boy. So he turned to Liv, said his goodbyes, and turned to leave.

Apparently being unable to take a hint was another point on the long list of Carisi’s flaws because he too said goodbye to Olivia and followed Rafael out of the room.

“Hey Barba, wait up. I just wanted to say I’m a big fan of your work, maybe we could plan something together sometime?” He took advantage of his long legs to keep up with Rafael’s fast pace, going as far as pressing their sides together in an attempt to gain his attention.

“I would rather be covered in honey and thrown into a beehive than do a robbery with you Mr Carisi. Now if you’ll excuse me.” He walked faster to try and put some distance between them. “I have things to attend to.”

This time, Carisi didn’t follow him. Choosing instead to shout at him from his spot with an easy smile still lighting up his features “Sure thing Barba, see you around.”

Rafael was still fuming over the whole encounter when a voice from behind him almost made him jump.

“I see you’ve met Benson’s new acquaintance, you two seemed awfully close back there.” Standing in the shadows, with a champagne flute in her hand and a mischievous glint in her eye, was Rita Calhoun.

“It’s not like that Rita.”

“Oh don’t worry, I know it isn’t. He isn’t interested in sleeping with anyone, or so I’ve heard from those who tried. I was just curious as to what you were talking about. Sonny doesn’t really look like your usual business partners.”

“And he isn’t, which you would have known if you had decided to creepily lurk in the shadows a bit closer and eavesdrop, instead of trying to ambush me later.”

“Are you saying you want me to eavesdrop on your conversations?”

“If that’s what it takes for you to leave me alone then go ahead, it’s not like you don’t always know everything already”

  
  


He’s still lost in the memory of that evening when the sound of a window breaking claims his attention. Rafael quickly hides behind a few boxes in the corner of the auction’s house main room and waits to see who’s coming. He knows it isn’t security because they wouldn’t come through the window, but that doesn’t mean he’s safe.

Out of all the people he expected to see entering the room, Carisi was very lowly positioned, but at least he wasn’t dangerous so it was safe to come out of hiding.

“I’m starting to think you’re stalking me, Carisi.” He waited until the man had his back to him before talking because he was petty like that and if he had to endure Carisi’s presence then he might as well have some fun.

It gets the desired effect and then some, as the man jumps and drops the vase he had been carelessly holding in his left hand.

“Oops.” Carisi smiles sheepishly and Rafael absolutely does not find it cute or adorable. He’s a grown man, a known criminal. He does not get butterflies in his stomach because of pretty boys with dimpled smiles.

"Great. I hope you intend to clean that up. Actually, why don't you do that while I do my job?"

He reached for his backpack and opened it, then grabbed the item he had been hired to steal: a gold pocket watch that had been missing since WWII. It was an easy job. The family of the original owner had done the hard part of locating the watch and all he had to do was take it to them. It would have been a piece of cake if Carisi hadn't shown up to interrupt him, because now he couldn't just leave. It would be reckless – who knows what the man would do on his own. He'd probably get caught and then he would trade the information that Rafael Barba had been there as well to cut a deal. 

No that wouldn't do. So he was going to stay, just to ensure his own safety.

Carisi was looking around, randomly grabbing things and putting them back down as if they were in the clothing aisle of Walmart. Occasionally he would look at Rafael when he thought the man wasn’t looking and throw him these long, weird stares. Rafael would swear he actually heard him sigh at some point. It was unbelievably unprofessional, every respectable thief knew you got in, took what you needed, and got out.

It was 3 steps. How was it possible to mess up a 3 step plan?

"What's taking you so long, did you forget what you were supposed to be stealing?"

Sonny looked startled as if he had forgotten Rafael was there too. He reached for the closest object without looking at it. “Here it is, exactly what I was looking for.”

“You were looking for an early 18th-century ceramic plate?” he arched an eyebrow and Carisi followed his gaze, looking at his own hand and the plate.

“Uh yes, this is exactly what I was hoping to find...an old plate from...” He brought it close to his face and inspected both sides before saying in a not very sure way: “China. An antique plate from China, it’s what I came for.”

And with that he left the room as abruptly as he had come in, leaving Rafael confused and slightly amused, although he would deny that last part if anyone dared to ask.

He shook his head as if to clear it of weird, charming thieves and left the Auction house as well. 

And prayed his run-ins with Carisi would come to an end.

  
  


**Paris, July 2016**

It’s in his most high-risk job that he encounters Carisi next. He’d been tasked with robbing a total of 15 diamonds from a jewellery store on the Champs-Élysées, and while it wasn’t his typical style, the paycheck had been incentive enough for him to do it. 

He’s almost done collecting and stashing the diamonds in various pockets of his bag and hidden pockets, having only 4 of them left when Rafael feels a presence behind him. He quickly pulls the gun from his waistband and turns to aim it.

He isn’t even surprised when Carisi throws his hands in the hair with a yelp, and for a few seconds, he considers shooting him in the leg just to teach him a lesson. One time is happenstance, two times is a coincidence, but three times? That’s a pattern and he knows damn well he’s not the one creating it.

Rafael takes a few deep breaths before lowering the gun. He realizes he’s still holding onto the 4 diamonds he had been in the process of putting away so he quickly shoves them in his pocket.

“What the fuck are you doing here, Carisi?” The man tries to explain himself, probably with a flimsy excuse he just made up, but Barba interrupts him before he can get a word in “You know what, I don’t care. I was just leaving so whatever it is you are here to do, just do it.”

He moves to the exit but Carisi is still between him and the door, so when he passes by him, the man takes advantage of the narrow passage to grab his wrist and spin him around until they’re facing each other. 

Rafael tries to take a step back but all he accomplishes is to walk straight into a wall. When he realized his mistake it’s already too late, and Carisi has once again closed the space between them, effectively pinning him against the solid brick. With one wrist still trapped in the man’s hand, he tried to push him away with only one arm, but Sonny’s slender form hides more muscle than Rafael originally thought. He kept his hand on the man’s chest though, so he can use a moment of distractions to escape, he just had to wait for the right time.

“Why the rush, I thought we could hang out or something, have a nice talk, ya know?"

He intended to respond, he really did, but Sonny was smiling sweetly at him with his eyes shining as if they were out on a date somewhere and not in a robbery. And he was so close and smelled so good and his eyes kept drifting downwards and up again and Sonny was leaning in, Rafael was leaning in, the hand still on Sonny's chest now curled around the fabric. He has his eyes closed, waiting to feel the pressure on his lips but instead feels breathing on his neck.

"Rafael" The word whispered into his ear sends a shiver down his spine and he pulls Sonny impossibly close "Thanks for the diamonds." 

What?

The fog in his mind clears almost as quickly as Carisi can step away from him. He's still smiling, sharper now, but there's a flush, running from his cheeks and down his neck, disappearing in his shirt. In his hand, the one which hadn't been wrapped around Rafael’s wrist were the 4 diamonds Rafael had hastily put in his pocket right when Carisi walked in.

That fucking bastard.

Was it too late to pull out his gun again? His train of thought probably showed on his face, because Sonny's smile dropped.

"I – look Raf – Barba I had to. And you weren't going to give them to me if I asked you. I didn't plan this. I mean, I did plan this just not in the way you're thinking. It wasn't – look, just don't be mad at me, we can still be friends, right?"

Rafael knows he should be mad at losing part of his haul, but what's burning in his stomach is the embarrassment at having been toyed with like this by a low-life who now would go around bragging to everyone who'd listen that he’d tricked Rafael Barba. What he also feels, but refuses to look at too closely, is the hurt that came when he realized what was actually happening. He blames it on his wounded pride but he knows it's more than that.

"Whatever." Carisi moved to stop him again, but this time Rafael was faster, getting out of his reach. "Don't touch me. And stop stalking me, it's annoying and I'm tired of you."

The frown on Carisi’s face deepened, but he didn't try to grab him again so Rafael left, not seeing the guilt and regret that settled on his face as he watched Rafael walk away.

**Lisbon, January 2017**

Rafael has a problem.

A Sonny Carisi shaped problem that's not going away.

No matter what he does, he can’t stop thinking about Sonny, and not with the annoyance he was used to. Instead, he found himself daydreaming about blue eyes with something akin to longing. He would be going about his day only to pass a reflective surface and realize he had a soft smile on his face because he was once again thinking about the man. Every time he heard Sonny’s name in a conversation, he had to hold back not to physically react. And worst of all was the fact that he actually missed the man.

Since lashing out in Paris, Sonny hadn’t shown up at one of his jobs, probably scared Rafael would scream at him again. Or maybe he’d just found something better to occupy his time. Someone better who wouldn’t roll their eyes as soon as they saw him walk into a room.

A few weeks after the incident, Rafael had finally made peace with why he had been so angry at Sonny for his deceit with the diamonds. For a split second, he thought Sonny was going to kiss him, and he was ready for that, he wanted it. Although he had tried to ignore it, he knew there was a growing attraction between them, and when he realized it was just a trick, he had been disappointed and embarrassed at giving so much away.

Once he had made peace with that fact, Rafael expected his lingering thoughts to come to a stop but they kept pestering him at all times. If anything, it was even worse now that he had acknowledged his feelings for the man. 

So he made a plan.

He was going to confront Carisi and put an end to the animosity between them. At least that was the justification he gave Liv when asking about Sonny’s whereabouts because she didn’t need to know his plan for this particular confrontation involved soft words and touches. The ending of the animosity part was also true, he was sure his date invitation would put a stop to all of the hostility. Even if most (more like all) of it came from it.

At the time, it had sounded like a good plan. But now standing in Sonny’s hotel room waiting for him to arrive, he wasn’t so sure anymore. What if the connection he felt between them was the fruit of wishful thinking, if he had imagined things that weren’t actually there? God, this was a terrible idea, Carisi would probably laugh at him for thinking his constant intrusion in Rafael’s life was anything more than a fun hobby. What was he thinking, crossing the Atlantic to ask a man he had only talked to a handful of times out on a date? It was ridiculous and he needed to leave while he still could. 

He was about to do so when the doorknob turned and the door opened. Rafael stood awkwardly in the corner of the room while Sonny made his way inside. He looked tired and washed out, a dim version of the cheery guy Rafael was used to. When it was clear he hadn’t seen him, Barba cleared his throat, hoping it wasn’t a threatening sound. Sonny turned quickly and let what a scream that left his ears ringing.

“Jesus fucking Christ.” Sonny grabbed at his chest with one hand, trying to control his breathing “What the fuck Rafael? Why are you here? No scratch that, how are you here?”

“I came to see you, we need to talk.” 

He should’ve planned what to say next, but he foolishly thought the right words would come to him in the moment. What an idiot.

“No, I mean inside my room.”

“Oh, I picked the lock. Didn’t know what time you’d be back and the waiting area looked shady.” 

“The waiting area –” Sonny repeated incredulously before taking a seat on the bed and gesturing for Rafael to do the same “Nevermind, what was so important that you had to come to Europe for it? Is there a job you need help with?”

“Not quite.” He bit his lip and saw Sonny’s eyes drift in that direction for a quick second. Maybe he wasn’t so wrong after all.

“Then what is it? Did you just miss me? Because if I remember correctly, you told me to stop stalking you because it was annoying and you were tired of it. So I really don’t understand what you want since I did just that.”

“I like you.” Rafael silently cursed himself. He hadn’t meant to just blurt it out, but now there was no coming back.

“Huh?” Sonny looked adorably confused, with his head tilted and eyes scrunched up, trying to figure out if Rafael had hit his head or something,

“I said I liked you. Have for a while actually, I’m just not very good at articulating my feelings.” That earned him a snort “But I’m trying. I didn’t know when you’d be back in New York, so I came to you, to ask you if you’d like to go out with me sometime.”

“Do you really mean it? Or is this a prank? If this is a prank, I will be so mad” 

Rafael had always been a man of action, so in lieu of trying to prove he was serious with more spoken assurances, he cupped Sonny’s cheek and kissed him. He was more than a little satisfied with himself when Sonny tried to chase his lips as he pulled back.

Knowing the other man, he had expected a cocky attitude and a smug grin, maybe a remark about pulling pigtails. He wasn’t ready for the shy but hopeful smile and the blush spreading on his face.

“I um, I like you too Rafael.” The confession came in a soft whisper as Sonny reached out to twine their fingers together “I always did, that’s why I kept figuring out where your jobs were and showing up. I thought if you spent enough time around me, I would eventually wear you down and we could be friends, or know more.” His blushed deepened and Rafael reached for him and kissed him again, longer this time.

“That’s cute. But explain something to me, why did you make up that story about your mom to make me give you that painting in Chicago? If your goal was for me to like you, then that was a terrible move.”

“I wanted to make you mad.” That had not been the response he was expecting.

“Why?”

“You look cute when you’re pissed off.” 

He felt his face grow warmer and rolled his eyes in a failed attempt to distract Sonny from realizing the impact his words had on him.

“Well, now that that’s out of the way... how about we go have some dinner? Call it our first date?”

Sonny’s face turned serious as he looked at the watch on his wrist “Actually we need to leave the country.”

“Come again?”

“Yeah the cops are onto me, really we should have left 20 minutes ago.” He stood up and grabbed his backpack off the floor.

“Sonny! And you’re just telling me this now?”

“I didn’t want to interrupt your declaration, babe” 

Before he could protest the use of the pet name the sound of sirens in the distance made its way into the room.

“What do you say, Rafael? Feel like being on the run with me?”

As he took Sonny’s outstretched hand he couldn’t help but reply

“Always.”

  
  


**Munich, April 2018**

Rafael loved Sonny, he really did, their relationship had only grown stronger and steadier since they started more than a year ago. But sometimes he’s reminded of exactly why he preferred to work alone.

“Hey Raf, you think your ma would like this?” he holds up a pair of earrings from the jewellery store they were robbing “I think she would”

“For the last time, Sonny, you are not gifting my mother something we stole on a job. If you want to impress her then do it in a respectful way”

“Oh yeah? Where was that energy when I gifted you those emerald cufflinks for your birthday? Maybe I should go back to Buenos Aires and put them back where I found them since you’re so against stolen gifts.”

“Yeah right, remind me again how many open warrants for your arrest there are in Argentina? Good luck getting there without landing your ass in prison.” 

Okay maybe he didn’t hate working with Sonny as much as he let on, the easy banter always made his days easier and his work more pleasurable.

“This was the last of it, you ready to go?” Rafael asked over his shoulder, assuming Sonny had gone into the storage unit to put the earings back where they were. He jumped a little when strong arms wrapped themselves around his waist and the answer to his question was whispered in his ear.

“Almost done, there’s just one last thing I want to steal.” 

As Rafael turned his head to look for what he could possibly have missed Sonny locked their lips in a lazy kiss that would’ve lasted much longer had they been anywhere else. 

“There, now we’re good to go,” he said as they pulled apart.

“That was incredibly cheesy, Carisi.”

“Yeah? Then why are you smiling so hard?”

“Because against my better judgment, I love you”

Sonny’s smile turned softer as he pressed their foreheads together

“I love you too.”


End file.
